A Black Tie Event
by ncisMCABBY
Summary: A cute fluffy little story about Nell and Eric going to a fundraiser for NCIS. Established Neric.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own anything but the words I produce

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it was an early friday morning and Nell and Eric where just starting to turn on their equipment when Nell looked at her calendar and saw an event coming up that she had forgotten about until now. she figured Eric didnt remember either but asked him anyway.  
>"hey Eric you know what event is coming up… right?"<br>"you mean other than your birthday?  
>"yes other than my birthday. the saturday after to be exact"<br>"uhm January 18th…?"  
>she stared at him as if to say 'really' until it finally dawned on his face "oh crap is that the fund raiser thing hetty told us about?! i totally forgot."<br>"well i didn't and youre taking me."  
>"i suppose it's the least i can do for m'lady."<br>their coversation was cut short with Callen calling Eric to ask him to run background check on a new guy they didn't really know about but assumed was pertinant to the case

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later in the day as the case was wrapped up and Nell had finished all her paperwork and was waiting on Eric she asked him what he was doing the next day. figuring she wanted to eat out for a change instead of ordering chinse food and staying in to watch movies he replied "nothing, why?"  
>"great because we have to go shopping."<br>"no no no no no Nell come on you know i never shop its so terrible please why do we even have to shop"  
>"because i need a dress and you need a tux"<br>"Nell come on i have a tux and wouldn't someone like Kensi be much better for dress shopping?"  
>"maybe but when was the last time you tried on that tux?"<br>he thought about it for a second and realized it had been a very long time since the last time he had even thought about putting that monkey suit on. "ok i see your point but-"  
>she pressed a finger to his lips and said "no Eric we both have to shop and you know it. Also, there's no way you're going to get out of it so you might as well give up now."<br>he immediately slouched in his seat with a sigh of exasperation, and went back to work. once Eric had finished they went out to Eric's car (because they had carpooled this morning) and back to Eric's house.

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After about an hour they were situated on Eric's couch with pork fried rice and lo mien with burlesque (a movie?) on. They sat facing each other with their food in between them, each sitting criss-cross-applesauce. There was a comfortable silence in the room as they finished up, set their plates on the table and continued to watch the movie. While she was unticking her legs Nell felt her phone buzz in her back pocket. She picked it up to see that Kensi had texted her with a picture of her dress asking if she had any blue or silver heels she could borrow. Nell thought about it for a moment and remembered some nice strappy silver heels she had hidden in the back of her closet. She texted back saying she had the perfect pair.

While she was texting Eric noticed and asked her about it. "Hey what's all that hard thinking about" he said with a smirk.  
>With a little sigh she replied "Kensi needs shoes for the fundraiser to match her dress and she asked me."<br>"Oh, so do you have any or will she be accompanying us on our shopping trip?"  
>She chuckled a little because of the way he said 'shopping trip' and said "no I have some nice ones she can borrow, but I hope they don't make her too tall because when i buy shoes i but tall ones. I need all the lift I can get."<br>Eric shrugged a little and said "I'm sure she'll be fine, it's not like Deeks is short or anything so it can't be that bad."

Nell was worried though, for the fact that ball gown dresses are not really suited for short girls. They're more for the tall girls with legs that go on forever, who don't normally have to hem their pants because they're too long. As she was thinking this the movie ended and Eric got up offering her some lemonade that she took with pleasure. She looked up some dresses really quick hoping Eric wouldn't notice or ask about it but all that came up where short dresses that only went to the knee 'i can't wear those!' She thought 'I'll stick out like a sore thumb, and I doubt that's what you're supposed to wear anyway.' She was still looking at them when Eric came back with the drinks and handed her one that she thanked him for. He leant over to give her a chaste peck on the lips when he saw what was on the screen of her phone.

"Ooh, what's this little Nelly!?" He said as he picked her up bridal style and sat her across his lap. She made a small noise of surprise and laughed as he picked her up which he loved to hear. "Isn't this what tomorrow's for?" She was reluctant to tell him that she was actually very nervous to find a dress that would look good on her. She knew she had to tell him though, when he was looking at her with big curious eyes so she tilted her head down and said in a low shy voice "I'm just afraid I won't be able to find a dress I'll look alright it..." He tilted her chin up with his forefinger and said "hey nell, you gotta know you'll look beautiful in anything you wear." She didn't meet his eyes "no nell I mean it, come on look at me" and she did "would I ever lie to you?" She knew that was a ridiculous question and said "We'll no but-" he cut her off "Then why would I start now? You are so beautiful, not only to me but to everyone else, too. Don't worry that you won't 'find a dress you'll look alright in' because I guarantee you'll find a dress you'll look amazing in. And that's just because you look amazing no matter what, okay?"  
>She was smiling now and pulled him in for a kiss. She pulled away and whispered a soft "thank you" in his ear, then continued to kiss him on his couch.<p>

Before it got too heated Nell grabbed Eric's hand and climbed off of him leading him to the bedroom with dark eyes.


	2. Chapter 2 Let's Shop!

Before he could open his eyes he felt a slight weight at his hips. He opened his eyes to see one beautiful ginger straddling his hips and leaning down to kiss him. She kissed him lightly on the forehead down his nose and onto his lips. It wasnt a surprise he tried to intensify the kiss, but before he could she pulled away saying "oh good, you're up!" She got up off of him and out of bed while he layed there stunned for a second. Once he regailed his senses he grabbed his glasses off the nightstand and said "hey, what was that for!?"  
>She replied "i had to get you up an i wanted to be nice about it seeing as im forcing you into shopping today" e groaned and she smirked then continued "i'm going to take a shower, and you're welcome to join me, you know the whole going green thing might as well save some water..."<br>with that she smiled and winked then sauntered out of the bedroom. He jumped out of bed and followed her while she let out a soft chuckle.

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About an hour and a long shower later they were ready to leave. Neither of them where really sure where to go so Nell had asked Kensi where to find nice clothes for occasions like this, seeing as she already had her dress. She directed them to a small boutique near the center of town. They set off in no time with the address pulled up on Eric's phone. It took them over a half hour to get there because of the traffic and trying to find a parking space.

It looked like a small place but when you entered it was much bigger. The store was distinctly separated between tuxedos and suits to dresses and gowns by a big wall. There were mostly female workers but there was one male worker and he was working with someone else in the shop (they didn't want the hassle of a sales man) so they both decided Eric was probably going to be easier to buy for first. And being proactive, they had gotten his measurements from the file Hetty keeps their sizes in, yesterday.

Eric wasn't looking for anything fancy or outlandish which was a contrast to what he wore daily. He just needed something that suited him. He figured he would try on a couple of suits so he chose a black one, a dark grey one, and another that that Nell found and he thought was perfect. This last one was a light grey suit with darker grey outlining the collar and pockets on the jacket and the pockets of the pants. Once he tried them on they both agreed that the last suit was Eric's style and was perfect. Eric held onto the suit and began to look for bow ties while Nell made her brave way over to the woman's section.

Nell wasn't really sure what she was looking for, but thought she could figure it out on her own. She didn't really want a sales woman to come help her but she wouldn't have been opposed. What she wasn't expecting was a very exuberant blonde that looked like she spent every second she could at the beach. In fact she almost seemed to be the female version of Eric. She introduced herself with a bubbly smile  
>"hey I'm Leah, do you know what you're looking for?" Seeing as Nell really did not she figured Leah would be able to help her.<br>"Uhm, no not really, it'd be great if you could help me."  
>Leah smiled like she had just won the lottery, and Nell figured she just had no idea who she was dealing with. Nell wasn't a bleach blonde bimbo with money to spare and her IQ must be leagues above Leah's, so she had nothing to worry about... Right?<p>

She showed her a few dresses and seeing as she had no idea what she was looking for, she accepted all of them until she had enough to try them on. The first was a short sleeve deep green dress that was a silky fabric and was very loose. It tied around the waist with a bow and only reached her ankles. She twirled around a little bit and thought of accessories she could wear with the dress, but still had mixed feelings on this dress, so she set it aside. The next one she tried on was a fitted black dress that fluttered about around her ankles. It hung close to her shoulder and had lace sleeves. She didn't mind this dress but thought it was too bland.

She was getting too impatient to wait because the next dress she tried on was her favourite. This dress was fitted and a navy color. It had a sweetheart neckline covered with a sheer fabric, that had a few flowers stiched in at the bottom. The bottom was loose and flowed freely from the waist down. She also liked that this dress had sleeves of sheen fabric that we're open at the top. This was when Eric decided to reappear with his suit in a garment bag and a smaller bag which she assumed he had ties in. He walked into the dressing rooms quietly saying her name. She chuckled and told him where she was. He came over and without hesitation flung open the curtain and looked at her in the dress she had on.

Eric was momentarily stunned and amazed with how beautiful she was. He moved closer to her and whispered in her ear "I told you so." Feeling her shiver and lean back into him, he smirked and went to sit down on the bench insideher dressing room stall. She couldn't help the small smile that came to her face just because he had gotten close to her and replied "what do you mean?"  
>"I told you it would all be fine. I told you you'd look beautiful."<br>"Thank you Eric," she said humbly "I guess we're both lucky you're right." She smiled  
>"I guess we are"he said and smiled back<br>"Okay so I have to change and that means you have to leave."  
>"What, why?"<br>"Because," she mumbled and bent down close to his ear "I'm not putting on a strip tease for you in public."  
>"So does that mean you would when we're in private"<br>"Maybe if you behave." She smirked and straitened up. "Now get out of here!"  
>He sat dumbfounded for a second before he jumped up and out the door. She chuckled softly. She heard Eric walk towards the entrance to the dressing rooms. This wouldn't have been weird, but she also heard him talking to a woman. It almost sounded like Leah...<p> 


	3. Chapter 3 hey jealousy

I'm sorry this is really short I have finals coming up and have very intense sport practices for a competition this weekend and it's my birthday so I've been pretty busy

apologies again & hope you like this chapter

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Nell walked towards the exit of the dressing room with her dress over her right arm, and the rejected ones over her left. By the time she reached the exit she was confronted with the (in her opinion) horrendous image of Leah talking with Eric as if they had been best friends forever. Not to mention how close Leah was to Eric. As she got closer she watched Leah give a light tap to Eric's nose and them to both laugh (albeit Eric a bit awkwardly).

Nell was infuriated and could barely think strait as she approached. Eric gave her an apologetic look but all that Nell could see was how close Leah was to touching Eric. She looked up and finally saw the look he was giving her and immediately changed her expression to a smile. "Hey Babe."she said and saw the surprise on his face seeing as she had never called him that before.

"Uh hey Nell..." He said  
>At this point Leah had turned around to notice how Nell had slid up to his side and grabbed his hand and said "oh what a coincidence!"<br>Nell and Eric both looked at her but Eric was the first to ask "what?"  
>"Well, I was the one to help Nell to find her dresses, you never told me you had gotten a new girlfriend!" She replied<br>Nell still didn't like her. She was ok but she shouldn't have been all over Eric! "Yeah, that's me, so uh how do you two know each other...?"  
>"Well uh... Me and Leah... Welll.. We uh...daa..ted..." Eric replied in a very shy voice.<br>"Oh. You dated. I see." Nell replied.  
>Leah decided this was her time to shine and spoke up "yeah, a whole two years."<br>"Wow. Two years. That's pretty serious." Nell was mad. This woman had to have done something very wrong to have blown it with Eric, but to be all over him NOW? No! Now he was hers and she was the only one who could be all over him. She felt a primal need to protect what was hers. She opened her mouth about to reprimand this stupid woman for attaching herself to a man that did not belong to her but Eric spoke up "ok so Nell needs to check out! Why don't we go do that."  
>Leah said "Alright, I'll go check you out!" To Eric and Nell's anguish.<br>They continued up to the counter and when Eric tried to remove his hand from Nell's she just grabbed it tighter and pulled him closer to her. He gave her a questioning look that she just returned with a millisecond glance over to Leah. He rolled his eyes and that was the end of the eye conversation they were holding, although he was pretty pleased Nell was being so protective over him. It was cute but she was being a little overzealous.  
>That didn't matter to Nell. She was still pretty mad as Leah took her rejected dresses and pulled them to the side. She noticed how Leah held conversation with Eric while looking at him under hooded lids. Eric did his best to deflect her attention, and Nell did notice but it didn't make Leah less of an irritant.<br>Soon but not soon enough they were headed out the store with a new dress and suit for the upcoming fundraiser.

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With their fancy clothes tucked away in the back of the car they shared glances over small talk. Their glances spoke volumes as though they were questioning all that just happened at the boutique. Nell was doing her best to ignore the subject, but still knew it was coming. Eric parked his car and finally asked "okay Nell, what was that?"  
>"What was what?" She answered innocently.<br>He turned fully towards her "you know what."  
>She sighed and replied "let's go inside, first."<br>He didn't reply but got up, grabbed his suit, made sure she had all of her things handled, and headed inside. They kicked off their shoes by the front door and continued to put their dress and suit into their accustomed sides of the closet. Once this was done, and everything was situated they continued to the couch where Nell sat perpendicular to Eric with her feet in his lap and her knees curled into her chest. He brought the topic up again, hoping to actually get an answerbye simply asked "so?"  
>She was ashamed and didn't want to have to explain her irrational reactions but felt as though she needed to explain her mistake to him. "Look Eric I just, I love you alright, and it makes me mad when people think they can change that, because what's between us is special, and it's not going to change. Ever."<br>He knew what she was talking about. He got jealous, too, sometimes. He smiled and said "You didn't have to apologize Nell, I was just concerned you were loosing your sanity!" He said jokingly. They both let out a small chuckle. An easy, comfortable silence cam over them and Nell moved closer to Eric. After a short moment of this he said "Your apology was great but you do realize you just used fancier words to say you were jealous..."  
>She laughed lightly and poked him in the chest and said "hey my apology was great, so just accept it and don't criticize the beauty of my words." She smirked and looked up at him from her place somewhat beside and on top of his lap. She just looked so adorable glancing up at him like that, so he couldn't sit there and do nothing! He bent down and kissed her lightly on her lips and continued down her neck, they were chaste kisses just because he couldn't get enough of her. When she pulled him back up, though, she kissed him so hard it made him see stars and he could swear fireworks went off somewhere in the distance. They both knew they had nothing else to do all day, and decided they'd spend the rest of their afternoon in bed.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4 today is the day!

Sorry I didn't mention her birthday. If I did it would have been really short and stupid-so sorry and enjoy this chapter.

They're still not mine but it's my birthday so can I have them? No? I understand.

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The Saturday of the fundraiser rolled around quicker than you would expect. The team had caught a case that only took a few days but still had them worried that they wouldn't finish it in time for the fundraiser. Luckily they had finished up with a day to spare. Nell and Kensi were talking earlier that day about what they were going to do with their hair and their makeup, while the guys were teasing Eric about actually wearing a suit with close-toed shoes. When Nell finished her conversation with Kensi she saved Eric's butt from all the harassment by grabbing his hand and pulling him up to ops.  
>"I am never going to hear the end of this. This could be worse than them finding out a dressed as an elf." He said solemnly.<br>"No, they'll get over it sooner or later, don't worry about it." Nell said, trying to be convincing and failing at it. She knew they were gonna tease him, he'd just have to tough it out, like she knows he can.  
>He sighed and said "I'll survive, it's just going to be a pain." He gave her his best puppy dog eyes, because they both knew she basically forced him into going with her.<br>She felt bad and decided to cheer him up. "Well I suppose I could make it worth your while..." She said inching closer to him and pressing her lips firmly onto his. They sat there, chairs as close as they could be, kissing like teenagers when Kensi walked in saying "so, Nell can I- WHOA." At this point they had jumped apart, knowing that they were supposed to stay professional at work. Kensi was just awkwardly standing there not really knowing whether to continue or not so Nell spoke up  
>"Yeah Kensi, what do you need?"<br>Kensi mumbled "to get my memory erased... I feel like I just watched my little brother and sister making out..." She said with a face that showed she felt weird about it. She continued and spoke up with "I was actually wondering if I could come pick up the shoes I plan to borrow at maybe 4 or 4:30 ish? Oh and we're getting let out at 3:30 so we have time to be ready for 6."  
>Nell replied easily with a "yeah, of course."<br>Kensi tried to make a joke as she walked out by saying "and no more making out behind the teachers back you two!" [change?]  
>Look new font whoa<br>Nell let out a small laugh after she was gone because of her attemp to make a joke and the fact they had just been caught making out. She looked over at Eric and said softly "oops.."  
>Eric said "yeah, you're right 'oops' that was really embarrassing!" He wasn't exactly mad but his ears were still bright red. That's not what Nell thought though, she actually thought he was mad at her.<br>"Eric, I'm really sorry I was just trying to make you happy I wasn't trying to put you into an awkward situation." He looked a little surprised she was apologizing and cut her off by saying  
>"Wait Nell, I'm not mad, especially not at you. It's not like you told Kensi to come up here or anything so I don't see why you think you should be apologizing!"<br>"Oh I thought you were actually mad at me! Ok this is a relief" she smiled a bit and so did he and she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. They both smiled again and got back to work.

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3:30 rolled around too fast for Eric's liking and they were back out into his car by 3:45. Their plan was to go to Eric's house get the suit and dress and head to Nell's house in her car because they knew Kensi was going to be coming over to get Nell's shoes at sometime near four o'clock.

They were in Nell's car by four, hoping Kensi wouldn't beat them to Nell's house. When they got there (thankfully) Kensi wasn't there and they headed inside. Nell went to go get the shoes she was lending to Kensi and bring them out to the living room. She set them down near the front door. While they waited for Kensi to come pick them up they decided to break out the Oreos and and wait on the couch. They were still sitting there chatting and eating Oreos when the doorbell rang. Nell said "oh there's Kensi. I got it." She popped the rest of the Oreo she was eating in her mouth then got up to answer the door.

When she opened the door Kensi walked in like she owned the place. She said hey to Eric and Nell, which they responded hey back to her in unison. Nell said "I already pulled out the shoes they're right over here and me and Eric were just eating Oreos if you want some." When she said this Eric pulled out an Oreo and offered it to her, seeing as she was resting on the arm of the couch opposite to him. Kensi took it and ate it in one bite. She swallowed it and replied  
>"No I have to go get my dress from the dry cleaners so I can't stick around, thanks though, maybe next time"<br>Nell replied "I get it, I had to pick mine up earlier this week. But we'll see you later anyway!"  
>Kensi went to pick up the shoes but before she actually went to get them she grabbed and Oreo and said "y'know just for the road." Nell and Eric both chuckled and Nell got up and grabbed the shoes for Kensi. She came back over to her and handed them to her as she headed for the door. She said a quick "bye" and Nell and Eric replied "see ya" in unison again.<p>

After she was gone Nell said "i hope she didn't feel like I was rushing her... I wasn't really. Hey she said she was in a hurry, what am I worried about. I probably just made that easy for her."  
>Eric just kind of sat there with a look on his face that said "really" she just sighed and said<br>"Alright we have to start getting ready. You want to shower first?"  
>"Hmm. Nah you go first, and I'll clean up ou here" he replied<br>"You just want to eat the rest of the Oreos don't you?"  
>"Well... Maybe.."<br>She chuckled "well then just save one for me" she leaned over and kissed him before getting up and heading to the bathroom. He smiled, ate a few more Oreos then put the rest away. He knew this was going to be a good night if this kept up.

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Sorry this took so long to do I hope I can update ASAP and by the way if there are any mistakes feel free to let me know.


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